My esteem has only grown for DK2 since it came out. It’s really original balls-out cartooning that manages to grasp many of the things that are great about superheroes, without even seeming to try that hard. Lot’s of fun and really quite weirdly creative — sad that Miller hasn’t really managed anything like it since, despite trying to replicate the formula.

Another thing that struck me is that Miller, once again, defined a new subgenre here — the irreverent, counter-intuitive, ‘art’-superhero comic. There’s been lots of those since, and currently that Neal Adams trainwreck is garnering the kind of accolades DK2 only saw a few of when it came out.

From what I remember, there’s no doubt that the book has clever concepts and a fond nostalgia for the characters (especially Miller’s use of the Ray Palmer Atom and Barry Allen – seen here long before their Geoff Johns-inspired returns to the spotlight). And it just may be that the wackiness of the whole thing works, in a bizarre way. Or at least is entertaining in a stream-of-consciousness way, as you point out. “Great art,” though? “Masterpiece”? Hmmm… I can’t quite agree there, although it is fun.

I’m long overdue for a re-read of DK2. Thanks for the article and thanks for the reminder to check it out once more.